McKay helps Bearcats escape scare

O’Bannon gave the Baldwyn boys a good scare Monday night. The Bearcats crashed the party of girls teams opening North State and nearly had their own party crashed.
Baldwyn trailed by five at the half but beat O’Bannon 79-63. The Bearcats will host Class 2A North State beginning Thursday.
“I thought it was a combination of us and them,” Baldwyn coach Jason McKay said. “I thought in the second half we made some key pays when we had to.”
Baldwyn scored 29 points in the third and took a two point lead on a 3-pointer from Conner McKay. The Bearcats (27-3) never lost the lead.
McKay, a freshman, hit 11 of 12 from the free throw line and scored 23 points. Baldwyn got 19 from Tevin Lindsey, 18 from Duke Upshaw and 13 from Martell Brown.
“We certainly didn’t play as well as we wanted to, but this time of year you take it,” Jason McKay said.
Also Monday
(G) Pine Grove 73, Tremont 29: Pine Grove (26-8) shook off a division title loss to Falkner with a big win at home. After a poor shooting night Friday, Pine Grove got 26 from Bryanna Davis and 21 from Chloe Bailey.
Anna Fryar had 16 points. The Lady Panthers visit 1A favorite Byers on Thursday.
“We stayed positive and didn’t get down,” Pine Grove coach Chris Parman said. “We shot extremely well tonight. Now we play the toughest team in the state.”
(G) Greenwood 65, New Albany 64: Host Greenwood won the 4A opener on a free throw with 1 second left. Jazmine Spears finished a decorated career for New Albany with 29 points and 20 rebounds.
(G) Pontotoc 57, Noxubee County 39: The Lady Warriors (27-3) will host the remainder of 4A North State. Marlee Hatcher had 18, Kayla Russell 15 and Anna Rosenbaum 11 for the defending champions.
brandon.speck@journalinc.com